Drum attachment



T. WILSON.

DRUM ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION man own. 1920.

1,413,445. P te ted Apr. '18, 1922.

QZQ-d 16 vcjrzvenzr'll v I a I 75771 WzZoon UNITEDTSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

TOM WILSON, or, CHICAGO, rL-LmorsAssIenoR TO WILSON rmos. MFG. COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOES.

1131mm ATTACHMENT.

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, TOM WVILsoN, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the'county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Drum Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to drum attachments.

It relates more particularly'to combined snare strainers and mufflers.

One of the objects-of the invention is to provide a an improved snare strainer and mulfler.

strainer and mufller which maybe readily adapted to suit the convenience of the a drummer.

Another object is to provide a snare strainer and muffler having a pluralityo'f operative positions.

Another object is to provide a snare stralner andmufiler whose operating lever may be brought close to the shellof the drum so as not' to in-terfere with an enclosing-case.

A further object is to provide a strainer and muffler which} is simple in construction, reliable in operation, easy-to apply and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

' Other objects willfhereinafter appear.

" An 'embodimentof the invention, applied to a drum in two different ways,is illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

@The views in the drawing are as followsz- I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a snare drum, equipped with a combined snare strainer and muffler mounted on a hoop thereof.

Fig.2 is a top plan of the snare strainer and muffler, showing the difiere'ntpositions the operating-lever may snares are relaxed.

Fig. 3 is a top plan, showing thedifi'erent assume when the positionstheaoperating lever may assume when the snares are tensioned. I 'Fig. 4 is a separated perspective of the strainer and mufller.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the strainer and mufiler mounted on the shell of a drum,

and

-Fig. 6 isa side elevation thereof] The drum comprises, in general, a cylindrical shell 1,-which may be of wood or encircling plunger 11 is a collar 18.

pivotally' mounted.

Specification of LettersPatent. Patented A1)1'.'18, 1922.

Applicationfiled'Deceinber 11,1920. Serial No. 429,913.;

metal, and two heads of flesh. Ordinarily independent screw operated head tensioning rods 4;, are usually provided, whereby'the tension of the heads on the opposite ends of the drum may be separately and'independently adjusted at will.

Snare drums are provided with snare 4 strings which,when in use, he against one Another ob ect is to provide a snare end of the drum' by suitable means, such as screws 6. Base plate 5 is provided, at-its opposite-end, 'with'an outwardly extending lug or bracket 7. The upper surface of bracket? hasa square boss 8 thereon. A'

hole 9' extends through the bracket v, at the "center of boss 8. The bracket is also provided with a slot 10 through which the snare strings may be passed.

I Slidably fitting in hole 9 is a rod or. plunger 11 externally threaded on its upper end to receive a tension adjusting thumb nut 12. Theother end of rod 11 is reduced in diameter to providean annular shoulder 13 and 1s interiorly "threaded to receive. a, screw 14.

The snares are held ina snare clamp comprisinga pair of screw coupled plates 15 and 16. Plate 15 is provided with a perforated ear or lug 17 which fits over the reduced end of rod 11 and is clamped'firmly against the shoulder thereof by screw 14'.

Between nut 12 andbracket 7 and loosely Oollar 18'has a pair of pins or lugs 19 projecting from opposite sides of-its circumference and upon these pins an operating lever 20 is The sides of the bifurcated lower end of lever 20 are spaced apart drum may be mu l'lGCl by throwin t to loosely fit down upon the sides of the square boss 8 on the top of bracket 7 and, when so fitted, prevent the lever and its supporting collar 18 from being rotated about plunger 11. The lower end of lever is cam-shaped to cooperate with the upper surface of bracket 7. This cam is so formed that when the lever is depressed as shown by the full lines in Fig. l and in Fig. 3, collar 18 is forced against nut 12, which acts as an abutment, and the plunger is moved upwardly to tension the snares. When the lever is elevated, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in a igs. E2 and 4. the cam allows a spring 21, which surrounds plunger 11 between ear 17 and bracket 7, and the snares to force plunger 11 downwardly until the snare tension has been sufiiciently re hated to mull'le the drum. The point or elevated portion 22 of the cam passes beyond the plane through pins 19 and the axis of plunger 11 when the operating lever is near its string tensioning or string a ring position. Thus the mother is staining in either position. Vv hen the drummer wishes to mulile the drum it is neeess ry to move the operating lever only a portion of its travel because, as soon as the elevated portion of the cam passes beyond the plane through the lever pivots and th unis ot' the plunger, the force of spring 21 and the snares snap the lever to its extreme position wherein the string tension is completely relaxed and the drum is muflled.

The necessary tension of the snare strings for the desired snare effect can be secured by turning the operating lever to tensioning position (see Fig. 3) and turning adjusting nut 12 to relieve or increase the te1. on. After the desired tension is obtained, the

he operating lever to tension. relaxing po ion (see Fig. 2). The snare strings, however, may be instantly returned to effective position at the adjusted tension by simply manipulating the operating lever.

The operating lever may be coved in dill-- ferent planes to any one of three positions to tension the snares. In each movement the boss on the bracket acts as a guide, cooperating with the bifurcated end of the operating lever, to properly locate the lever for operation. When the lever is in snare relaxed position, the drummer turns the lever and supporting collar about the axis of the plunger until the lever is in the most convenient position and then, by rocking the lever about its pivot, tensions the snares against the head of the drum. The three snare tensioning positions of the lever are shown in F 1g. 3 and the corresponding lever positions for relaxed snares are shown in Fig. 2. The snare strainer and inulller thus may be readily adapted to suit the convenience and needs of the drummer. After a little experience the drummer will find which position is best adapted for his use and thereafter the cooperating sides on the boss of the bracket and the operating lever will hold the lever to the desired plane of movement.

In case it is desired to fit the drum snugly into a case the operating lever, in snare relaxed position, may be turned inwardly toward the shell of the drum, as shown in Fig. 2.

The muffler and strainer may be readily assembled and taken apart. It the lever becomes broken or bent it may be removed by simply unscrewing nut 12 and lifting otl the collar and lever, the rest of the structure remains intact. Should it become necessary to replace the spring it is only necessary to remove screw 14:. The snares are retained in the clamp and the remainder of the structure remains intact. The new spring having been slipped upon the plunger, the mufller is restored to its orig inal condition and adjusted tension by replacing the snare clamp and screw Figs. 5 and 6 show a combined snare strainer and muiiler, havin the same char acteristics and operation as those previously described, secured to the shell of the drum. The base plate 25 may be made shorter since it does not extend to the hoop and no snare slot is required. The base plate is attached to the shell by a suitable support or bracket 26.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A combined snare strainer and muffler comprising a base for rigid attachment to a drum, a bracket projecting from the base and provided with an opening therethrough, a plunger slidably fitting in the opening in the bracket, a tension adjusting nut on the plunger, a. collar loosely surrounding the plunger between the bracket and the nut, a cam lever pivoted to the collar and cooperating with the bracket and nut to slide the plunger through the opening in the bracket, a snare clamp carried by the plunger, and a spring surrounding the plunger between the snare clamp and bracket.

2. A combined snare strainer and muliler comprising a base for rigid attachment to a drum, a snare clamp for holding one end of the snares, a plunger to which the snare clamp is secured, a bracket projecting from the base and provided with an opening in which the plunger slidably fits, a collar surrounding and slidable upon the plunger, a cam lever pivoted to the collar and cooperating with the bracket to move the collar, and an abutment on the plunger in the path of the collar and through which the operation of the cam lever slides the plunger through the bracket.

3. A combined snare strainer and mufller 30 comprising a base for attachment to adrum, a movable snare clamp carried by the base, an operating lever cooperating with the base and snare clamp to tension and relax all of the snares simultaneously, and a loose connection between the base and lever for giving said lever a plurality of planes of movement in tensioning and relaxing the snares.

4. The combination of a drum, snares therefor, a snare clamp for holding one end of the snares, a plunger to which the snare clamp is secured, a base for attachment to the drum and having a bracket with an opening for the plunger and through which the plunger may reciprocate, snare tension adjusting means on the plunger, and an operating lever loosely carried on the plunger and operable in a plurality of planes to reciprocate the plunger and tension and relax all of the snares simultaneously.

5. A drum muffler and snare strainer comprisingabase for attachment to a drum, a bracket projecting from the base and having an opening therethrough, a plunger slidably fitting in the opening in the bracket, a cam lever pivotally and rotatably mounted relative to the plunger to be operated in a plurality of planes, a guide on the bracket and cooperating with the cam lever to temporarily retain the same in any of its operative planes, and adjustablemeans cooper ating with the plunger and the cam lever to communicate the movement of the cam lever to the plunger.

6. A combined snare strainer and mufiier comprising a snare clamp, a plunger carrying the clamp, a base for attachment to a drum, a bracket projecting from the base and having an opening in which the plunger slidably fits, a collar movably fitted on the plunger, a cam lever pivoted to the collar and cooperating with the bracket to move the collar, a guide on the bracket and cooperating with the cam lever to hold the same in any one of a plurality of operative planes, an adjustable abutment on the plunger and through which movement of the collar is communicated to the plunger, and a spring for retaining the abutment in engagement with the collar.

7. A combined snare strainer and muffler having a base for attachment to a drum, a movable member for holding a snare string, a lever for moving said member and thereby tension and relax the snare string, and means cooperating with the leverand said member to allow the lever to benioved to a plurality of positions providing equal relaxation of the snare and to a plurality of positions providing equal tension of the snare.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name.-

' TOM WILSON. 

